Wasserstrom Checks In For Jail Sentence

Former Hollywood City Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom, once one of Broward's promising young lawyer-politicians, checked in at Broward County's main jail Monday morning to start his 60-day sentence.

If he behaves well in jail, Wasserstrom, 42, could trim a third of his sentence and serve 40 days, said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti.

The ex-politician requested, and was granted, protective custody. That means he will remain in the main jail, spending most of his time in a cell alone.

Wasserstrom can leave his cell for recreation, to visit the law library, take part in religious services and to shower, Lamberti said. The former commissioner asked for Kosher meals - something the jail food vendor provides to inmates who request it.

Wasserstrom was first elected to the Hollywood commission in 2000 and re-elected four years later.

In 2007, he was convicted of felony official misconduct related to his role in helping a sludge-processing firm win an $18 million city contract in 2004.

He had declared on forms that he would not earn money from Schwing-Bioset, though his law firm represented a company lobbyist. Prosecutors argued that Wasserstrom hid that his law firm would earn money if any other cities piggybacked on Hollywood's contract.

"This whole case has been crazy from the get-go," Wasserstrom said in an interview late last year. "You have a conflict of interest, you disclose a conflict of interest at a meeting and somehow you are spending 60 days in jail?"